Rainbow Wahine have final tuneup for WAC

The Hawaii women's basketball team has two nonconference games left to considerably improve their execution on offense before jumping into the Western Athletic Conference grind next week.

The Rainbow Wahine open the Bank of Hawaii Invitational tomorrow at 7 p.m. against the San Francisco Dons following a matchup between Columbia and Oklahoma State at 5 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

HAWAII INVITATIONAL Schedule: Tomorrow, Columbia vs. Oklahoma State, 5 p.m.; Hawaii vs. San Francisco, 7 p.m. Saturday, third place, 4 p.m.; championship, 6 p.m. Where: Stan Sheriff Center TV: UH-USF game, KFVE, Ch. 5 Radio: Both UH games, KKEA, 1420-AM. Tickets: All seats general admission. $8 adults, $6 seniors. UH students with valid ID and children ages 4-18 free. Parking: $3 Notes: Senior forward Pam Tambini leads the Rainbow Wahine in scoring (14.3 points per game), field goal percentage (.408) and 3-point percentage (.386).

"We have not played a complete game in 10 games," lamented UH coach Jim Bolla of his team's 5-5 start. "Our big thing is we need to execute.

"We can't just walk out there and think we can beat people. We're not that good."

What really frustrates Bolla is all of his starters -- Janevia Taylor, Saundra Cariaga, Tanya Smith, Pam Tambini and Brittany Grice -- have been with the team all three of his seasons.

In analyzing recent game tapes, Bolla and his staff realized that certain offensive sets were not producing anything positive. Those are being shelved for the time being.

The tapes showed that a player would not get to the right spot on the court or not set a pick or make the right cut, which messed up the move of the next player. It didn't take long for the play to break down, forcing whoever had the ball to go one on one with the shot clock winding down.

"We are concentrating on four plays right now," Bolla said. "We have become too predictable with no basketball imagination. We look for this when we scout opponents and try to take advantage. Our opponents do the same to us.

"We're like a first-generation computer with just one program."

Hawaii has lost three of its last four games after winning four of its first six. The top three Wahine scorers are Tambini (14.3 points per game), Taylor (14.2 ppg) and Grice (10.5 ppg).

"It's good to have these two games because we play against three of the top four teams in the WAC when league starts," Bolla said. "We're going to be tested right off the bat."

San Francisco (4-8) halted a four-game losing streak by beating Florida State 67-64 in its last game before the Christmas break.

Dominique Carter, a 5-foot-11 junior guard, is the Dons' leading scorer. She averages 15 points per game and needs five points to reach 1,000 for her career.

Shay Rollins, a 5-7 sophomore guard, 6-1 senior forward Nickie Warren and 6-2 junior center Lisa Olden all average 8-plus points per game. Warren and Olden are the top rebounders with 6.9 and 6.3 per game, respectively.

Oklahoma State (10-1) has exploded out of the gate with a high-powered offense that is averaging 82.4 points per game and a stingy defense that holds opponents (a combined 49-71) to 50 points per game.

Nine of the Cowgirls' victories have been by 16 points or better, including six by 31 points or more. They have at least 10 steals every game and average 19 more rebounds per game than their opponents.

Maria Cordero, a 6-3 junior center, is the leading scorer, averaging 15.5 points per game. She receives plenty of help from 6-2 forward Rashidat Sadig (13.7 ppg), 5-8 guard Danielle Green (11.1 ppg) and 5-5 guard Andrea Riley (10.5 ppg).

Columbia (3-7) has not played since Dec. 14, when the Lions ended a two-game losing streak with a 66-46 victory over Wagner.

Megan Griffin, a 5-6 senior guard, leads the Lions with a 12.0 scoring average.

The top rebounder is 6-3 freshman forward/center Chelsea Frazier with 6.7 boards per game. She was named Ivy League Player of the Week after turning in her third double-double in the win over Wagner.

Also playing for the Lions is former Punahou all-state selection Becky Hogue, who has started two of the Lions' 10 games. The senior forward is averaging 17.2 minutes, 4.9 points and 2.9 rebounds a game.